Blah blah blah blaaah! That 'King Carlos is Coming

Might be useful
By Rabble Rouser
November 4 2005

Floozies, Boozers, Fezboys and Loozers. Oh When the Saints.... Go Marching in..... Oh When the Saints Go March.....zzzzzzzz. God, I hate that song. The Fezboys version - to the same tune - Blah Blah Blah Blaaah (repeat ad nauseaum) is much better, in my humble opinion.

I have a friend (no, honestly, I do have one)who is THE eternal optimist Saints fan. "If we get some ball, Spencer and the backs might be a bit dangerous" he told me the other day. Oooh Betty!
I just said that the Saints pack couldn't drive their way out of a paper bag right now and that 'King Carlos and his outside girlies (never really did think backs were worthy of any other name, me)wouldn't get any ball to be dangerous.

"The try Spencer scored last week is a contender for try of the season". I was told. Courtesy of Rugby Club I saw it. The scoring pass was more forward than a drunken prom date, I thought. So while Bristol protested, 'King Carlos strolled in. What was omitted was the fact that Bristol were in an unassailable lead at the time and didn't really care that much.

Mind you, it was the same Saints fan who prophecised great things after his side won their opening two games last season at a leisurely stroll, only to get out of jail on the last day thanks to a missed penalty down at Hairy Queens. Oh, and the bloke rates Darren Fox, something that brought tears of hysteria to one of my Saracens brethren when I told him.

Looking at Saints getting stuffed by Brizzle on Thursday night's Rugby Club left me and, no doubt, many other Sarries supporters with a warm glow. If rugby were an exact science then Saracens, based on their dominant display at the Memorial ground, will be wrapping up the bonus point before half time Saturday and the Fez could then turn their attention on infiltrating the members bar for their post-match pint.

After lots of controversy in recent seasons - Matt Leek's disallowed drop goal, Steve Diamond and the interfering Saints medic's set-to at Uphill Gardens last season - this one won't be dull. Sarries v Saints games never are. Come to think of it, no game involving Saints is short of a few talking points; witness that international hooker Banjo Thompson being unable to scrummage at Glaws earlier this season. Director of, er, rugby I suppose, Budge Poutney (no, I haven't mis-spelled the surname)is always quick to defend his tactics.

The Saints side has a smattering of international players, but will be missing the Banjo and Ben Cohen who has been recalled by England after two years spent cleaning the advertising boards at the Gardens.

The usual suspects are in the side captained by Bruce Reihana; Tom Smith, 'King Carlos, Sean LA-mont (must get the emphasis on the first syllable, chaps), and Sharky Robinson who must be fuming after spending 14 weeks on the sidelines for using his boot for wiping a bit of dirt from Ronnie Regan's cheek, while this season England-qualified players are getting shorter suspensions for anything short of a formal GBH charge.

The supporting cast is solid, but as a unit the Saints forwards will be very worried by the Sarries forwards who have taken the "back to basics" approach in recent weeks and sent Irish, Bristol, Biarritz and Treviso packing.

Barty Tholomeusz returns at long last to replace Tommy Castanets who has finally convinced Monsieur Laporte that the last three years were actually a dream and that he never left Les Bleus. Tommy may be missed, but if the weather forecast - rain, and lots of it - is correct, then the Mercurial one might not be missed all that much. Mullet Man Byrne is with Ireland and Mosese with Fiji so bionic man Bracken comes back on the bench and Andy Kyriacou gets a call-up.

Sarries are finally on a roll with four straight wins under their belt. None would have been high on style points, but wins they were and if the manner in which they were achieved is continued on Saturday, then 'King Carlos and his mates with the high shirt numbers will be audicence members as the Sarries pack goes marching in. A few times.

SARACENS
15 Dan Scarborough; 14 Richard Haughton, 13 Mark Bartholomeusz, 12 Kevin Sorrell, 11 Paul Bailey; 10 Glen Jackson, 9 Alan Dickens; 1 Kevin Yates, 2 Matt Cairns, 3 Cobus Visagie; 4 Simon Raiwalui, 5 Iain Fullarton; 6 Hugh Vyvyan, 7 David Seymour, 8 Ben Skirving. REPLACEMENTS 16 Andy Kyriacou, 17 Ben Broster, 18 Kris Chesney,19 Steffon Armitage, 20 Kyran Bracken, 21 Ben J Russell, 22 Adam Powell.

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS
15 BRUCE REIHANA (capt)
14 John Rudd
13 Jon Clarke
12 Rhodri Davies
11 SEAN LAMONT
10 CARLOS SPENCER
9 MARK ROBINSON



1 TOM SMITH
2 Dan Richmond
3 Colin Noon
4 Damien Browne
5 DAVID GERARD
6 Grant Seely
7 Darren Fox
8 Daniel Browne

Reps: 16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Pat Barnard, 18 Matt Lord, 19 SAM HARDING, 20 Johnny Howard, 21 DAVID QUINLAN 22 Seamus Mallon